Amritsar, November 8
A family from the Maqboolpura area staged a protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) here today by keeping the body of their member, who died in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) yesterday.

The family alleged that the deceased, Raju, was tortured to death by the police. Jodh Singh, brother of the deceased alleged that the Maqboolpura police picked him from their residence on October 15 and later sent him to jail.

He said yesterday they were informed by the jail authorities that he was admitted to GNDH as he was not well and his condition had deteriorated. He later died in the hospital. He said the family had met Raju in the jail a day before Diwali and he was in "sound" health. He said the postmortem had revealed that his both legs were broken, which indicated that he was subjected to physical torture.

Amolak Singh, SHO, Maqboolpura police station, said Raju was arrested by the police with habit-forming drugs. He was later sent to jail after completing the formalities where his health deteriorated and he later died. He said any arrested person is sent to jail after proper medical examination and therefore there is no question of any torture.

RK Sharma, Deputy Superintendent of the jail, said Raju was sent to the jail on October 16, while he was referred to GNDH on November 4. Before he was rushed to GNDH, he remained admitted to the jail hospital for a week.

“He was an acute drug addict and was also suffering from depression. His family members used to meet him earlier also. This was totally wrong and baseless to accuse jail authorities of torture,” said RK Sharma.

Later, the dharna was lifted after ADC Rajat Bhatia reached the spot and assured the family of taking strict action against the persons responsible for this.

Amritsar, November 8
After over a six month-long successful run of the daily Superfast Express train between Chandigarh and Amritsar via New Morinda and Sanehwal, the Railways is anticipating to commence another train between the two cities.

The Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division, Northern Railway, Naresh Chander Goel, said the exact date of the launch of the train was not certain as official communication in this regard was still awaited. He added that any comment over its schedule, timing and commencement date could only be made after he received the written orders from the office. He said it was expected to land within a couple of days. The Ferozepur Division has its jurisdiction spread across parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

At present, the Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express train departs from Amritsar in the morning and makes the return journey in the evening. However, there has been a demand to run a parallel train starting from Chandigarh in the morning and returning the same day from Amritsar in the evening.

With its start, passengers from Chanidgarh can arrive here in the morning and return to the Union Territory in the evening as the passengers from the holy city have been enjoying the same with the already functioning Surperfast Express.

Pilgrims and tourists from Chandigarh and surrounding areas can come here to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, savour mouth-watering Punjabi delicacies and enjoy shopping traditional style in the markets of the walled city and return the same day.

It may be mentioned here that the travel time of Chandigarh-Amritsar Superfast Express has been reduced by 30 minutes after the start of the newly laid Mornida-Sahnewal-Ludhiana section of the Chandigarh-Ludhiana track on April 19.

Earlier, the Duronto train was introduced between Amritsar and Chandigarh, which did not find favour with the passengers as it did not have stoppages at Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The response picked up after the stoppages were introduced at these two stations.

It is a welcome move by the Railways to introduce a parallel train between the two destinations as it will bolster business, tourism and professional ties. The train should be extended to Kalka, which is nearly 28 km from Chandigarh, to link the holy city with Himachal Pradesh. It would offer another tourist circuit and choice to the visitors. — AL Adlakha, doctor

Business ties between the two cities will deepen with the availability of efficient and comfortable mobility. The markets of Amritsar and Chandigarh would also be linked and it will boost the trade. — Kamal Dalmia, industrialist

There is a high number of floating population between Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh and owing to the absence of a fast mean of transportation they are forced to stay out of their cities. Besides, two famous business centres of the state - Ludhiana and Jalandhar - also fall on the route of the train. — Rajan Bedi, businessman

Amritsar, November 8
Four two-wheelers parked in a Dharam Singh Market building were damaged due to the collapse of a portion of projection of the third floor of the building, located near the Jallianwala Bagh, here today.

However, no loss of life was reported in the instance. Therefore, no cognisance was taken either by the police or the Fire Department.

According to an eyewitness, Diwan Raj, an employee of the LIC office located in the same building, it was quite a panicky situation. “We immediately ran out to see as it had made quite a loud sound when it fell on the vehicles parked beneath it. Normally, this portion used to see a lot of hustle and bustle, but luckily no one was present at the spot then. Only some scooters and motorcycles parked there were damaged,” he said.

Amritsar, November 8
With the arrest of a youth, the Sultanwind police today claimed to have cracked the robbery case in which an old woman was robbed by some unidentified persons by brandishing sharp-edged weapons.

The robber, identified as Manish Kumar, alias Bablu, turned out to be the grandson of the victim, Charanjit Kaur, a resident of Kot Baba Deep Singh.

Parampal Singh, ADCP, City-I, said as per the preliminary investigations it was found that Bablu along with his two friends Vicky and Shiri had planned the robbery.

Charanjit Kaur had stated to the police that two unidentified persons, who had covered their faces, entered the house while brandishing sharp-edged weapons. They looted gold jewellery, including bangles, earrings, rings, chain and mangal sutra, besides cash and two mobile phones worth Rs 5 lakh.

The ADCP said during investigation it came to light that Charanjit’s two daughters Pushpinder Kaur and Asha Rani had recently come from the UK. They had gone to Chandigarh. But before going to Chandigarh they had kept the cash, jewellery and mobile phones with their mother.

The police has recovered a part of jewellery and cash from the possession of Manish Kumar, while raids are being conducted to nab his other two friends.

Amritsar, November 8
The basement of the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital, which has many of the storerooms in it, these days is flooded with water. The insiders at the hospital said the problem of flooding of basement was first spotted around six months ago, but then the water was drained out. The problem resurfaced some days ago.

Presently during a visit to the hospital it was seen that around 3 inch high water was standing in the basement. Longer the water is allowed to stay in the basement, more are the chances of the flooring getting discoloured and place starting to emit foul smell. The goods and furniture kept in the storerooms are at a threat of getting rusted or damaged because of the humidity.

Sources in the hospital said the water seeps through the walls whenever the area around the basement is flooded due to rains. Even the sewerage system in the area is faulty and water gets collected on the road leading to the hospital, thus creating a problem for the visitors.

During a visit to the hospital recently Chief Parliamentary Secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu had also took up the matter of faulty sewerage system in the area with the Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities.

When contacted, Senior Medical Officer Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai said the problem had already been brought to the notice of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation. “The work has begun and we hope that problem would be permanently solved,” he said, adding that building a wall around the building was the permanent solution. “Earlier after every rain we had to drain out the water manually or using pumps. If the wall is built the water would not flow to the basement,” he said.

Amritsar, October 8
Even as the state government is busy making tall claims of transforming Amritsar into a world-class city in the next few years, the key road stretch between Hall Gate and Bhandari Bridge is in a bad shape and is crying for attention.

The road is used by thousands of tourists, both domestic and foreign, visiting the Golden Temple. The stretch leading from Hall Gate to Bhandari Bridge is the lifeline as it connects the old city with the Civil Lines area.

Even as the MC officials claimed to get the road repaired, this temporary arrangement too hardly brought any relief to the commuters as there are many waterlogged pits and potholes here.

Being one of the busiest stretches in the city, the road bears heavy load of traffic coming from Hall Gate and also the elevated road to take a U-turn to reach Bhandari Bridge. The bridge too is in a dire need of repair as it has developed wide pits on its joints. While negotiating through these potholes, the vehicles at times end up hitting each other.

The residents and the traders, who have their shops on the roadside, say that numerous reminders have been sent to the Municipal Corporation but no permanent solution was ever found by the authorities concerned.

Even though MC officials and the Mayor cross this stretch daily to reach their office, the dilapidated condition of this road hardly caught their fancy.

A shopkeeper said the stretch wears the look of a canal during the rains and those who are not aware of where the potholes are fall and get injured, especially two-wheelers.

"It is also taking a toll upon our business as there is no safe place opposite to our shops for parking of vehicles," a trader complained.

Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said, "The stretch is being taken care of. Recently, we had filled up the patches but this is a temporary arrangement. I will send the team to survey and re-carpet the damaged portions soon."

Several commuters avoid crossing this stretch and prefer to take the wrong side to reach Bhandari Bridge while risking the lives of those who approach from the other side. — Dr Balwinder Singh, GNDU professor

I refrain from crossing this stretch due to the countless potholes. It is risky for a two-wheeler rider here as heavy vehicles like buses and trucks remain stationed on the opposite side as there are offices of numerous bus operators. — Viraj Chopra, businessman

Amritsar, November 8
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day CBSE’s 20th Annual National Sahodaya Conference, Central Board of School Education (CBSE) chairman Vineet Joshi said there was a need for schools and teachers to adapt to the evolving technologies of the 21st century to meet emerging global challenges.

He said these steps would help them tackle the obstacles and make them adept to take on the future challenges. He emphasised to vocationalise the education system so that students could learn how to apply the knowledge imbibed in classroom. He said it would provide them rare and advanced insight into the working field.

In his inaugural address, Dr Dharamveer Singh, president, Amritsar Sahodaya, highlighted the need to help schools and students overcome challenges with the help of technology, more training for teachers and making classrooms student-oriented.

To make schools future-ready in the age of technology, the National Annual Sahodaya Conference began with great fervour. Organised by CBSE, the conference was inaugurated by Padma Bhushan and eminent designer Rajeev Sethi, also chairman of Asian Heritage Foundation (New Delhi) along with Dr Sadhana Parashar, Director, Academics, Research, Training and Innovation.

With participation of over 100 schools from across the country, the Amritsar Sahodaya Conference, based on the theme ‘Future Ready Schools - Leading the future of Learning,’ saw teachers and principals keen to understand the need of enabling positive use of technology among the schools.

The conference will also see sessions on E-learning technologies, innovations in CBSE, preparing global learners and education leaders, empowering teachers through technology, vocationalisation of education and others.

The CBSE chairman said, "Parents have the right to question the school authorities or the CBSE directly if they feel their children are being overburdened in any way."

The board was against heavy schoolbags and they have given instructions to all CBSE-affiliated schools not to introduce extra books to students, the The CBSE chairman further said.

Amritsar, November 8
The Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Bebe Nanaki Mother and Childcare Centre iwill organise the North Zone Yuva FOGSI conference from November 22.

The three-day conference would be organised on "Midlife and Beyond".

Amritsar, November 8
The results of B.Sc.(IT), B.Com. (Prof.) Part-II, BCA Part-II, B.Sc. (Biotechnology), Part-I and B. A. /B.Sc. Part-I examinations held by Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in September have been declared.

RK Mahajan, Professor-incharge (Exams),Guru Nanak Dev University said these results would also be available on the varsity website www.gndu.ac.in.

Amritsar, November 8
The Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Lectureship Award Function was organised today at the Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) here. The function was organised by the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of the university in association with the Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Charitable Trust.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Ajaib Singh Brar presided over the function while Dr Kanury Venkata Subba Rao, senior scientist, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, delivered the memorial lecture. Dr PK Sehajpal, Dean, Students Welfare, welcomed the chief guest and others and also introduced the guest speaker. Dr KS Rai, chairman of the trust and other faculty members were also present.

Dr Rao while delivering his lecture on pathogens in TB infection explained about the micro-bacterial survival, persisting and killing, a balance of nested equllibria.

He said that tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is common and in many cases it is lethal and highly infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria usually called mycobacterium tuberculosis.

He said a pathogen in the broader sense can produce disease. "Typically, the term is used to mean an infectious agent - a microorganism. In the wider sense, it is a virus, bacterium or fungus that causes disease in its host. The host may be an animal, human, a plant, or even another microorganism, he said.

Prof Brar appreciated the efforts of the Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Charitable Trust.